I am thankful for my family. My husband is my best friend and happens to be the most wonderful man on Earth. He is caring, loving, smart and funny and he works hard to support his family. He knows me sometimes better than I know myself, and he’d say the same for me. My children are all healthy, smart and beautiful to me. They make my days brighter and make me hopeful for the future. They are all loving and compassionate and make me proud. This year I am also thankful that my parents were able to make the move from our hometown 2.5 hours away, and they now reside about 2 minutes away. Not only are they helpful to me, but my children now have the benefit of knowing the older generation.

I am thankful for my home. Even with it’s shortage of bedrooms and the blue carpet, it is mine. I feel fortunate that even in a down economy that we have been able to keep and continue to improve and customize our home. It will never be glitzy and it won’t be free from kid dust for many years, if ever, and that’s okay because it is filled with good times, love and family.

I am thankful for our jobs. Though I do complain about the long hours both John and I work, we are both gainfully employeed.

…and here are a few more things I am thankful for this year…
– the fact that I got 3 Zhu Zhu pets put back for Christmas before they were $60 on Amazon
– my 15 year old big screen TV is hanging on and doesn’t need replaced yet
– that I was able to walk 13.1 miles & run a 5k this year, making my health a little higher on the priority list
– that Dustin was finally able to play a team sport
– that Dorothy was able to cheer on a team
– that Liam went to pre-school
– that Maggie sleeps in a crib
– that John is smartly planning to move out, but not away
– for my MP3 player so my workouts aren’t so dull
– for coffee
– for people who understand the need for coffee
– that my cat hasn’t been hit by a car or mauled by a fox or picked up by an owl
– that my mom gave me some crocs, ugly though they are they are comfortable
– for SpongeBob, who entertains the 4 little kids while I do things around the house

I tossed some clothes in the washer, but didn’t turn it on, thinking I’d wait until morning to add some more things in and then start it. My step-son, John, went downstairs and was going to do laundry so he could go visit his girlfriend for the weekend. He asked if he could just add some stuff to my load and he’d get it all washed and dried. Sure, thanks for not dropping it all on the laundry area floor, kwim?

Next morning, I go downstairs to get my stuff out of the dryer, and what do I find mingled amongst my things? Take a guess….

It wasn’t the whole box, nor a used one…it was just an empty wrapper.

So, of course I’m glad he’s practicing safe sex. Rock on….however….it has been 3 weeks since he saw his girlfriend…um….has it been that long since he did laundry?

I didn’t ask. I did, however, place the now washed & dryed wrapper neatly on top of the clean basket of clothing that belongs to him. I wonder if he’ll notice.

My little tortise-shell cat Cleo, short for Cleopatra, would have made a really good mother. I wish I could get her one of those little nurse-maid get ups like Nana from the animated Peter Pan movie wore. She is always trying to tend the babies and take care of them. This started when Liam was a baby, every time I’d lay down to nurse him, she would climb up on my side/stomach and watch, which at first was a bit odd, but several years later I’m used to it. She stands guard when my smaller children nap, okay, she gets INTO the crib/pack and play and sleeps at their feet and then comes to find me when baby awakes – how cool! Also, Cleo really likes yarn, I’m certain she would have been a knitter. She understands when it is feeding time and will even help clean up afterwards, especially if we have some sort of ham or snack on cheez-its.

Unfortunately, we’ll never know if Cleo’s mother skillz would have worked on a kitten because the Humane Shelter where we got her spays and neuters all of their adoptees, but I understand why.

My friend Shannon over at Isaiah Updates nominated my blog for the Lemonade award – Thanks Shannon!!! I would totally nominate you too!!!

The Lemonade Award is given to bloggers who show a positive attitude, gratitude and a willingness to share their ideas, support and online friendship. In other words, people who make lemonade when they get lemons!

The rules of the award:

1. Put the Lemonade logo on your blog within your post

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude or gratitude

3. Link the nominees within your post

4. Let the nominees know that they received this award by commenting on their blog

5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award

I don’t have a lot of actively blogging friends these days, but a few good ones come to mind…

My friend Kristi at Crafty Kristi’s Blog is the mom to one little guy, and she also provides daycare services for one family. I don’t think my weeks would be complete without at least one visit from them. She keeps me sane and is one of the most genuine people I know.

Though she doesn’t get as many comments on her blog as she’d like, Cayla at More Matter/Less Art is an amazing source of inspiration. She was due with her son the same time I was due with Maggie, but as life works, her son is a couple of months older than Maggie.

Stefany over at To Be Thode is a mom/stepmom to 5. She is back to the books this year and I love hearing about her trials and tribulations with her family. I know her IRL also, and though we don’t run into each other often enough, I enjoy her each time.

ah…yes…my good friend Meleesa. Someone I can honestly say I am jealous of…she is one of the best knitters I know and she’s got mad skillz…she can whip up a pair of socks lightening fast and read a book at the same time…both are things I wish I had more time for. Meleesa is a mom to 3 busy kids and she can be found On Pages and Needles.

I know I’m not alone in my sentiments here. I think every single one of us with children has been in my shoes.

Scenario: Your kid is HORRID. Gets in trouble, acts out, just is a general turd. You get on their case, possibly impose some sort of punishment and express displeasure at their behavior (loudly).

The next day….kid wakes with a raging fever, throws up in the night, or goes to school and the nurse has to call for you to pick up.

Verdict: Sick kid who can’t, even at 8 years old, express properly what is going on. Parent feels horrid for not having seen the signs and feels guilty for yelling/taking away tv/no desert/etc.

Hypothetical situations aside. Dorothy was uncharacteristically awful on Monday. She got her first behavior card pulled in over 2 years at school, the last time was 1st quarter in kindergarten. She was a snot to the girls I provide after school care for, and she was a general stinker. I sent her to her room and let her know that books were the only thing she was allowed to do for the evening. Lots of tears, but she complied, perhaps too easily, not even trying to plead her case. Yesterday (tuesday) during naps, I get the call from the school nurse….Dorothy is sick, can you come and get her?

I’m not really ready. I’ll start with that. I can run for about 40 minutes without walking but on the treadmill that doesn’t yield 3.1 miles. I’m hoping, though, that running on the treadmill is like walking on the treadmill. When I did my last 5k I did it in 48 minutes and walked the whole thing, but I never actually walked a 16 minute mile on my treadmill, the closest was about 17:30, and I did less than 16 minute miles in the half-marathon, so I’m thinking that I just don’t stride out properly on the tread.

Anyway, I don’t think I could do this all without the continued support of my husband, John. My work situation right now doesn’t allow me to work out during naps right now, I’m sure that in a couple of months that will change, but right now I have some climbers. This means, obviously, that somewhere I have to find the time to work out, but finding time in my day that already starts at 5:00 a.m. and ends at 10:30 p.m. is somewhat difficult. The path of least resistatance, which is what I’m normally known for would be to stop for a while, but I”m pressing on and John has taken over bed-time with Maggie (we still lay down with her). I think he likes the evening nap and bonding time with the baby, and I like the alone time with my Sony Walkman MP3 player.

The Walkman really is a great MP3 player. It is cute and compact, and it holds more than enough music/videos/playlists to suit my needs. And, it’s pink. It also gets radio stations. John got it for me this year for my birthday, and I think it may be my most used gift to date. I really do love it!